Jeanie Riddle at TAP Art Space

Artist: Jeanie Riddle

Exhibition title: Veamos Juntos

Curated by: Philippe Bourdeau

Venue: Tap Art Space, Montreal, Canada

Date: May 5 – June 4, 2023

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Tap Art Space, Montreal

Montreal, Canada – TAP Art Space is thrilled to announce the opening of “Veamos Juntos | Regardons ensemble | Let’s look together,” a solo exhibition by Montreal and Mexico City-based artist Jeanie Riddle. The exhibition will run from May 5th to June 4^th. The gallery is located at 3333 Boulevard Cremazie Est, Door 201, Montreal, QC. For more information about the gallery and the exhibition, please visit www.tapartspace.com.

Text by Philippe Bourdeau, exhibition curator;

Inspired by her stay in the “Roma Sur” neighborhood of Mexico City, the exhibition “Veamos Juntos”, which means “Let’s Look Together”, showcases the work of artist Jeanie Riddle.

Taking the title from a poem by Susana Thénon (1935-1991), the exhibition conceptualizes the closed nighttime covered street markets, the graphic elements of graffiti and handwritten signs, broken sidewalks overrun by tree roots, and everything the artist visualizes and projects in her works through these elements.

The artist’s works, displayed on various presentation elements like a street kiosk, offer a range of Riddle’s work, revealing the different forms of her practice.

This exhibition is the result of research and exploration of the materials that surround us. True to her modus operandi and heavily influenced by her “upcycling” practice, the content of the exhibited works leads us to meditate on our consumption habits.

Blurring the boundary between painting and sculpture, the inherent characteristics of the works oscillate between utilitarian and art objects. The idea here is to create utilitarian and architectural subterfuges that evolve the works in the gallery by reconfiguring the space. Playing on deployment, Riddle generates a space for encounters and exchanges, allowing her works to open up to the world rather than remaining confined to their specific dimensions.

By saturating the white cube, the epicenter of her creative universe, with colors, Riddle reinforces the impact of her use on our senses and the ensuing imprint. The works thus operate in a dual sense, the paintings offering us the opportunity to discover their hidden truth, as well as to discern those they cannot fully express.

The aesthetics of the works instill in us to keep in mind that the artist’s work always has an underlying dimension that goes beyond their appearances. For Riddle, despite the aesthetic aspect of her paintings, they always have political content. They act in the same way as the euphemistic and intangible aspect of the artist’s work, translated here in pictorial form, referring us to its invisible and immaterial side.

About the artist

Jeanie Riddle engages with painting as an expanded language that defines itself through color, shape, space, process, transformation, tender care, (her version of) feminist activity, and play. She wrestles with new meaning from the isolated practice of working in the studio where applied knowledge, use of materials, art history, social constructs and personal politics come together to make art as well as delving into the inner work of understanding personal narrative and origin stories to deliver scenarios. She takes risks with her engagement of working in arenas associated with the feminine – décor, arrangements, beauty – ways that allow a further depth to her inquiry while she stealthy slides her work into abstraction. These material manifestations and her considered upcycling of looked for objects, are acts of precise selection and siting as content.

She holds a MFA from Concordia (2005) and has attended residencies at El Sur, Mexico City, Casa Lü, Mexico City, Bemis Center, Omaha NB, Cite des arts Internationale, Paris,Triangle Arts, Brooklyn NY, and the Vermont Studio Center. Her work has been shown across Canada as well as in Mexico City, Brussels, Berlin and Paris. Her projects have been repeatedly supported by Canada Council for the Arts and the conseil des arts et lettres du Quebec. A professional cultural worker, Riddle was the founding director of Parisian Laundry where she established numerous artist’s careers. She has worked as a consultant, juror, educator and writer and presently, dedicates her time to her own established mid career practice. She currently lives and works in Montreal and Mexico City.

Jeanie Riddle, Veamos Juntos, 2023, exhibition view, Tap Art Space, Montreal

Jeanie Riddle, We Will Catch Then, Acrylic On Canvas 4.8 x 6.8 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, What Hour?, Acrylic On Canvas 4.8 x 6.8 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, What You Doing?, Acrylic On Canvas 4.8 x 6.8 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, Hope I Can Give You One, Acrylic On Canvas, 4.8 x 6.8 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, The Kitten Next Door, Acrylic On Canvas, 12 x 9 in, 2019

Jeanie Riddle, In The World, Acrylic On Canvas, 14 x 18 x 2 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, The Way, acrylic, latex, adhesive, cotton blend, 14 x 15.5 in, 2023

Jeanie Riddle, Ask Me Everything That You Want, acrylic, latex, adhesive, brass, rope, cotton blend, 14 x 15.5 in, 2023

Jeanie Riddle, In This Activity, 11.5 x 4 x 1 in, 2023

Jeanie Riddle, Still Thinking About Friday, Latex, acrylic, adhesive on canvas, thread, 13 x 9.5 x 1 in, 2023

Jeanie Riddle, One Direction (for Dana), Acrylic, latex, adhesive, paper on canvas, 11 x 9 x 4 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, Eating Oranges, Latex, acrylic, adhesive on canvas, thread, 15.5 x 12.5 x 2 in, 2023

Jeanie Riddle, Go Look At The Moon, Latex, acrylic, adhesive on canvas, 12 x 12 x 8 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, En la called, Balloons, plastic wraper, paper party poppers, latex, adhesive 2023

Jeanie Riddle, (bird), acrylic and glue on cotton, lip gloss, found note, 10.6 x 7.8 x 7.8 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, present (In Small Caps), acrylic, house paint and glue on cotton blend, toy, 9 x 7 x 2 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, Pillow Talk (for Dana), Acrylic, latex, adhesive, paper on canvas, 11 x 9 x 4 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, Untitled – Pink rope, Acrylic, house paint and glue on canvas, rope, 9 x 7 x 1 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, Transistor radio (for Dana), Acrylic, latex, adhesive, paper on canvas, 11 x 9 x 4 in, 2022

Jeanie Riddle, On my way, acrylic, latex, adhesive, canvas and cotton blend, 12 x 5 x 7 in, 2023

Jeanie Riddle, The Toy in the Cereal Box, acrylic, house paint, adhesive, vintage googly eye sticker from the artist collection on canvas, 16 x 12 in, 2022